Oil burner



C. A. MERRITT OIL BURNER Filed April 6, 1958 INVENTOR. /larlesflfw rrilfi I ATTORNEYJ Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid fuel burners or oil burners especially adapted for quick and easy installation in stoves of any kind, either designed for this device or for burning coal or like fuel and has for the primary object the provision of a unit which will be capable of furnishing a maximum amount of heat with a minimum consumption of liquid fuel and which may be placed in a fire box of a stove without major alterations to the latter and will successfully operate with natural draft of the stove or by forced draft when the natural draft is below normal.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a unit embodying a series of fuel vaporizing bars so arranged relative to each other that a plurality of horizontally disposed air paths are provided and which will feed liquid fuel from one to another across said air paths to become mixed with the air traveling through said paths and thereby produce a highly combustible mixture having a maximum amount of heat units.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for directing air downwardly across the burning vaporized fuel to aid in supporting combustion of the fuel and for directing the flames of the burning fuel away from walls of the device to materially retard burning out of said walls.

A further object of this invention is the arrangement of the vaporizing bars within a casing in stair-step formation to permit liquid fuel to ravitate from one bar to another across the air paths and each having fuel wells exposed directly to the air passing through said paths, the bars being separable to permit easy removal when necessary and are held against accidental dis placement by having interfitting connection with each other and with one bar forming an integral part of the casing.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a sump in the casing to catch surplus liquid fuel from the lowermost bar and expose said fuel to the air of the air paths for burning and to direct any surplus fuel not burnt outwardly of the unit and the stove into a collection receptacle to prevent flooding of the stove with liquid fuel and causing a fire hazard.

With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following de Figure 3 is a front elevation illustrating one of the vaporizing bars.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of said bar.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I indicates a casing constructed of any material suitable for the purpose which is heat and fire resisting. The casing is open at each end and may be of any desired shape to conform to the contour of the firebox of a stove or like device. An abutment flange 2 is formed on the casing at one end thereof to engage a wall of the stove when said casing is positioned in the firebox of the stove and may be secured in any well known manner on the wall of the stove or may be left free of the stove and acts solely as an abutment for limiting the inward movement of the casing into the firebox. The open end of the casing designated by the character A is the air intake end and the opposite end of the casing is indicated by the character B and is the discharge end for the burning fuel into the stove A flange 3 corresponding in shape to the shape of the casing is formed on the flange 2 about the end A of the casing and forms a mounting for an air housing 4 which includes a door 5 easily opened and closed. A window 6 is provided in the door to permit a person to obtain a view through the casing I when the door is in closed position. An air pipe 7 is connected with the air housing 4 for furnishing thereto air under atmospheric pressure and also may be connected to a blower (not shown) and of any well known make and is employed when it is desired to have forced draft.

Formed integrally with the bottom wall and side walls of the casing I are strips 8 and 9. Said strips are located at the ends A and B of the casing and cooperate with the bottom and side walls of said casing in forming a liquid fuel sump C in said casing. Carried by the strip 9 and in communication with the sump C is an :7

overflow pipe is leading exteriorly of the casing I and. the stove in which the casing is located for carrying off surplus. fuel. The overflow pipe I0 is connected with a collection receptacle (not shown).

Arranged transversely of the casing l between the open ends A and B thereof is a. plurality of superimposed and relatively spaced fuel vaporizing bars H arranged in stair-step formation and providing therebetween horizontally disposed air paths. The top walls of the bars ll slope towards the end B of the casing and have formed thereon spaced ribs I2 extending longitudinally of said bars and forming therebetween liquid fuel wells l3. Liquid fuel is fed onto the uppermost bar by a liquid fuel supply pipe M. The amount of fuel passing through said pipe is regulated by a control valve (not shown). As the liquid fuel fills the wells l3 of the uppermost bar it overflows therefrom and gravitates onto the bar thereunder. The liquid fuel overflowing from one bar to another traverses by gravitation the air paths so as to become mixed with the air passing through said air paths and thereby produce a highly combustible fuel mixture. One rib l2 which co-acts with the adjacent rib i2 in forming one of the oil wells l3 of the bars is provided with a series of notches IE to facilitate passing of liquid fuel from said wells downwardly of vertical Walls D of the bars for gravitation onto the bar thereunder tending to break up the flow of liquid fuel into small streams so as to more readily mix with the air passing through the air paths between said bars. Spaced teeth It are formed on the bottom walls of the bars and project into the air paths for agitating the flow of air through the air paths. The air being agitated and the liquid fuel broken into small streams easily mix one with the other to produce the highly combustible fuel mixture. The lowermost bar is cast integral with the; bottom wall of the casing l and the fuel passing therefrom flows into the sump C and the surplus fuel of the sump is carried off by the overflow pipe Hi.

The bars at the ends thereof have interfitting connection with each other and the ends abut the side walls of the casing to prevent accidental displacement of the bars and to permit the bars to be easily lifted one from the other and removed from the casing when desired except for the lowermost bar which is formed integral with the casing. The ends of the bars are in the form of end plates ii the upper edges of which have. formed thereon projections l8 and the lower edges have formed therein notches I9. The projections l8 fit within the notchesl9 when the bars are assembled in stepped formation thereby bringing about an interlocking connection between the bars.

A partition 20 is mounted in the casing l and spaced a limited distance from the top wall of said casing to form an air passage 2! having direct communication with the air housing 4 and closed at the end B of the casing. The partition has a plurality of air ports 22 for directing streams of air downwardly in the casing between the bars and the end B of the casing. These downwardly flowing streams of air cross the horizontal paths of air and thereby agitate the air and fuel to further mix the same and aid in the combustion of said fuel mixture. Also the downwardly flowing streams of air tend to direct the burning fuel away from the upper portion of the casing to aid in preventing burning out of the casing. Mounted in certain of the air ports 22 are movable pins 23. These pins depend over the uppermost bar and act to intercept the flow of air across the uppermost bar and thereby bring about agitation of said air. These pins being movable in an upward direction will permit the uppermost bar to be lifted off of the bar thereunder when desiring to disassemble the bars. Also the pins being movable as described permit the uppermost bar to berassembled on the bar thereunder when desired.

In operation, the air flow through the casing is from the end A thereof to the end B and also from the air passage 2! in a downward direction or towards the bottom of the casing. The liquid fuel flowing over and from one bar to the bar thereunder by gravitation passes through the flow of air from end A to end B of the casing and becomes thoroughly mixed with the air and when ignited will burn and produce a maximum amount of heat. The flames escape from the casing at the end B to the stove to which the device is adapted. After the unit has been in operation for a short period of time the bars become highly heated and the heat therefrom tends to vaporize the liquid fuel flowing across the top faces thereof and downwardly from one bar to another. This vaporized fuel mixing with the flow of air through the casing as heretofore described produces a fuel mixture which will thoroughly burn with a minimum amount of carbon deposit. 7

What is claimed is:

1. An oil burner comprising a casing open at opposite ends thereof for the flow of air through said casing, a plurality of spaced bars arranged in said casing in stepped formation providing therebetween and the casing horizontally disposed air paths, said bars having on the top faces thereof oil wells with the top faces sloping towards corresponding vertical faces of said bars, means for feeding oil onto the top face of the uppermost bar to flow therecver and gravitate onto and flow over the upper faces of the bars thereunder and thereby pass through the horizontally disposed air paths for mixing with the air passing from between said bars to produce a combustible fuel mixture, said oil wells of each bar extending longitudinally of the latter and each bar having notches to permit flow of oil from one of the wells thereof downwardly over a vertical face of the bar to the bar thereunder and thereby pass through the horizontally disposed air paths, and a plurality of depending teeth formed on the lower walls of the bars to intercept the flow of air between said bars and thereby bring about agitation of the air.

2. An oil burner comprising a casing open at opposite ends thereof for the flow of air through said casing, a plurality of spaced bars arranged in said casing in stepped formation providing therebetween and the casing horizontally disposed air paths, said bars having on the top faces thereof oil wells with the top faces sloping towards corresponding vertical faces of said bars, means for feeding oil onto the top face of the uppermost bar to flow thereover and gravitate onto and flow over the upper faces of the bars thereunder and thereby pass through the horizontally disposed air paths for mixing with the air passing from between said bars to produce a combustible fuel mixture, said oil wells of each bar extending longitudinally of the latter and each bar having notches to permit flow of oil from one of the wells thereof downwardly over a vertical face of the bar to the bar thereunder and thereby pass through the horizontally disposed air paths, a plurality of depending teeth formed on the lower walls of the bars to intercept the flow of air between said bars and thereby bring about agitation of the air, and interfitting connections between the ends of the bars for retaining the bars assembled against displacement and permitting disassembling of the bars when desired. c

3. An oil burner comprising a casing open at opposite ends thereof for the flow of air through said casing either by natural draft or by forced draft, a plurality of spaced bars arranged in stair-step formation in the casing and extending transversely thereof and providing between said bars horizontally disposed air paths, ribs formed on the upper faces of the bars and extending longitudinally thereof to provide between said ribs oil wells, certain of said ribs having notches to permit flow of oil therethrough and downwardly over vertical faces of said bars across the air paths and from one bar to another, oil supply means delivering oil onto the upper face of the uppermost bar, end plates formed on the bars and having interfitting connections with each other, the lowermost bars of said group of bars being formed integrally with the bottom wall of the casing, an oil sump formed on the bottom wall of the casing to receive the overflow of oil from the lowermost bar and including a drain means, a partition arranged in said casing and spaced from the top wall of the latter to form an air chamber closed at one end of said casing, said partition having a plurality of air ports for directing air from said air chamber in downwardly extending streams past said bars and across the horizontally disposed air paths, and pins movably mounted in certain of said openings and depending downwardly and terminating over'the uppermost bar for intercepting the flow of air across the top face of the uppermost bar.

4. An oil burner comprising a casing open at opposite ends thereof for the flow of air through said casing either by natural draft or by forced draft, a plurality of spaced bars arranged in stair-step formation in the casing and extending transversely thereof and providing between said bars horizontally disposed air paths, ribs formed on the upper faces of the bars and extending longitudinally thereof to provide between said ribs oil wells, certain of said ribs having notches to permit flow of oil therethrough and downwardly over vertical faces of said bars across the air paths and from one bar to another, oil supply means delivering oil onto the upper face of the uppermost bar, end plates formed on the bars and having interfitting connections with each other, the lowermost bars of said group of bars being formed integrally with the bottom wall of the casing, an oil sump formed on the bottom wall of the casing to receive the overflow of oil from the lowermost bar and including a drain means, a partition arranged in said casing and spaced from the top wall of the latter to form an air chamber closed at one end of said casing, said partition having a plurality of air ports for directing air from said air chamber in downwardly extending streams past said bars and across the horizontally disposed air paths, and pins movably mounted in certain of said openings and depending downwardly and terminating over the uppermost bar for intercepting the flow of air across the top face of the uppermost bar, depending'spaced teeth formed on the lower faces of the bars and extending partly across the horizontally disposed air paths.

CHARLES A. MERRITT. 

